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Bee forage check

How good is this spot for honey bees?

Enter an address or tap the map. You'll see which bee plants and crops are within flight range (about 3.7 miles, with nearer land counting more), when the honey flow comes and when there's a dearth, nearby water, a few things worth checking, and how the spot ranks against random sites in your state and across the country.

Or tap the map. We don't store your address or exact location.

The colors are the national forage map: every square kilometer of the lower 48, scored the same way. See the honey flow for your state and town, the best and worst spots we found, or how the scoring works.

Forage report for 44.0489, -86.1808

Estimated forage here is better than about 60% of sites in Michigan. Against other Michigan sites it stands out most in fall (81st percentile) and lowest in summer (61st). Biggest nearby bee crops: corn (nearest 0.5 mi S, grown 3 of the last 5 years); alfalfa (nearest 0.5 mi N, grown 3 of the last 5 years); soybeans (nearest 0.6 mi NE, grown 1 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: creek, wetland or wet meadow, less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 75th percentile (spring 72nd, summer 77th, fall 73rd)
  • Michigan: 60th percentile (spring 71st, summer 61st, fall 81st)
  • Southern Michigan/Northern Indiana Drift Plains: 18th percentile (spring 80th, summer 17th, fall 80th)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across Michigan, scored the same way; land in general, not beekeepers' yards.

Season

  • First forage: Mar 1 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar)
  • Main flow: Apr 16 to Aug 31 — Alfalfa, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard)
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Corn: about 59 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi S, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 44 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi N, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 41 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi N, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 19 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi SW, blooms late Jul – late Aug
  • Alfalfa: about 46 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi SE, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 23 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi S, blooms late Jun – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden), Dandelion; light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Alfalfa, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Summer-flowering shrubs, Soybeans; white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Alfalfa, Clover/Wildflowers, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); white
  • Whole season (March to November): Alfalfa, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Summer-flowering trees (locust, linden); extra light amber

An estimate from public maps (USDA crop maps 2021-2025 averaged, LANDFIRE vegetation), not a survey of the ground. Maps can't see garden plantings, understory density, other beekeepers' hives, or this year's weather. Honey composition is a nectar-source estimate, not a pollen analysis. Benchmark 2026.5. How this works.